


Destiny Rebirth

by HeirOfRohan



Category: Naruto, Naruto (Anime) RPF
Genre: Accidental Incest, Action & Romance, Brother-Sister Relationships, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Happy Ending, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Sibling Incest, Strong Haruno Sakura, Strong Uzumaki Naruto, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2020-09-30 10:48:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20445893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeirOfRohan/pseuds/HeirOfRohan
Summary: Naruto died during his battle with Ōtsutsuki Kaguya...or did he? Given a second chance at life, Naruto is determined to ensure that the dark future he experienced would never come to pass. And, he will need the help of a cute blonde girl with violet eyes that looks so much like his mother. Time-travel. Very Strong/Intelligent Naruto.This is a transplanted work from Fanfiction.net, as my country banned it so AO3 is my new platform.





	1. Chapter One: A Second Chance

**Author's Note:**

> Foreword: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. All of it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

“It’s about time we finished this, once and for all, don’t you agree Kurama-nii?” a tall, young man said.

With hair shining as bright as the sun itself, the young man had roguish, spiky blonde hair that was messy and twin bangs that reached his jawline, framing his angular face. His shining azure orbs did nothing to hide his devilishly handsome appearance, and most distinctive of all were his exotic, birthmark-like whisker marks; three on each cheek, making him appear more mature than his age suggested and also more akin to a feline or canine.

He was wearing a battered and torn orange and black jumpsuit which was torn open at the front, exposing a fishnet body suit underneath which did little to hide his toned and well-muscled form. His azure orbs stared ahead, unwavering as he tightened his grip on a kunai knife in his hand.

A deep rumbling voice spoke into the young man’s mind.

**“I couldn’t agree more,”** the voice said,** “Considering what she did to your friends and father.”**

“I know,” the young man replied, sorrow seeping out in waves, “That is why ... it ends here!”

**“I have already assimilated the memories from your father,” **Kurama, the greatest and most fearsome of the Bijū (Tailed Beasts), the Kyūbi no Kitsune, said, **“Put them to good use — do not let him down.”**

“Got it Kurama,” the blonde replied, “Uzumaki Naruto never goes back on his word.”

**“That’s the spirit — now kick her ass from here to Sunday.” **

“That’s the plan!”

And the woman in question was suspended in the air, her three cold Dōjutsu enhanced eyes staring at everything before her, her expression blank and emotionless. The Goddess of Destruction, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, truly lived up to her namesake, as the landscape around her resembled an apocalyptic graveyard of gargantuan proportions. Dead shinobi and countless destroyed wildlife littered the scene, multiple craters decorating the land for miles around, and the sky was a dull grey, as if the gods were weeping from the death and destruction. After the traitorous Uchiha Madara sealed the Jūbi into himself, thus inadvertently releasing her, she had been on a rampage ever since.

For countless hours, the remaining shinobi of the battered Alliance who were not under the Infinite Tsukuyomi, slugged it out with the Goddess, but they soon realized that no amount of planning, strategizing, ninjutsu, booby traps, kinjutsu, genjutsu much less taijutsu of any kind could even put a scratch on her, much less kill her outright. Hatake Kakashi had already exhausted his chakra reserves and was recuperating with Haruno Sakura’s help, and Uchiha Obito, the traitor-turned-ally was unconscious due to fatigue and severe chakra exhaustion. The reincarnated Hokages, the Shodai, Nidaime, Sandaime and Yondaime were also powerless as seen when the Nidaime’s soul was forcibly pulled out of him, turning his body into ash, leaving behind a White Zetsu clone.

Uzumaki Naruto had come a long way since then. He was no longer the dense idiot that everyone knew anymore. After the merging with Asura’s potent chakra, his mind had become clearer, and he was finally able to think maturely and rationally for once in his life. He knew this was a losing battle, even with Indra’s successor, Uchiha Sasuke’s help. He also knew that the only way to win this battle was to forcibly seal the Goddess back to her realm with the strongest fūinjutsu technique ever created, and can only be done in collaboration with Sasuke.

And there was also another reason: his father entrusted him with his own memories, and with that his ‘Will of Fire’.

The Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, sacrificed his soul to protect his son when Kaguya tried to come at him from behind, resulting in Minato acting quickly by teleporting to his son and push him out of the way, but not before transferring his memories through the **Shindenshin no Jutsu (Mind Transfer Technique)** – a technique he learned from Yamanaka Inoichi. With one last tearful smile, Minato faded away like the Nidaime before him.

That was where Naruto found himself now, staring up at the Ōtsutsuki with a hint of hatred in his cerulean eyes.

Hearing footsteps from beside him, Naruto smirked. “Took you long enough, teme.”

“Shut up, dobe,” Uchiha Sasuke replied with a small smirk. He opened his eyes, revealing a fully matured Sharingan in his right eye and a Rinnegan in his left. “I was just letting you rest. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

Nodding with a slight scoff, Naruto turned his attention towards the demon in front of him. “Let’s do this Sasuke ... one last time.” And at that moment his entire body was engulfed in a brilliant yellow light. When it died down, Naruto was standing there with his _Rikudō Sennin Mōdo_ (Six Paths Sage Mode), azure eyes turning bright yellow as he glared at the woman who wanted to kill everyone he held dear. “Are you with me?”

Sasuke just smirked. “Do you even have to ask?” he said as he drew his katana, and they began their final assault.

In a space of a few seconds, Sasuke had already teleported right beside Kaguya and had his left arm extended in a seal, while Naruto appeared on the left with his right arm extended with the same seal. Both of them had almost touched the woman, when suddenly she vanished. Before they even had time to react to her disappearance, she reappeared behind them, palms extended outwards.

“Foolish children,” the woman muttered before launching her _Ash-Killing Bones_ from her palms, quickly skewering both men on them. “You stood no chance, from the very beginning.”

And with that final parting, she went on her way to kill off the rest of the surviving shinobi.

Naruto couldn’t believe it as his body was slowly dissolving into ash. They literally didn’t have the time to react, much less defend against her attacks. They were outmaneuvered and outclassed since the start, even with their newfound powers. Tears welled in Naruto’s eyes as he cursed silently, cursing himself for being so weak, for being unable to save his friends, for failing his father and mother’s wishes.

He felt utterly and completely useless. 

As his body slowly cracked and his vision slowly succumbed to darkness, the last thing he saw was Sasuke, lying next to him in a similar state, mouthing “Thank you, brother.” to him, before he closed his eyes and let the darkness take over.

Naruto opened his eyes and was expecting to see something akin to flames and eternal suffering ... for failing to save his world from the merciless clutches of Kaguya. But instead he found himself in an ethereal, white plain, where unknown to him, time and space were practically non-existent. The sore feeling of his muscles — long hours of non-stop fighting did that to people — were gone as well as any fatigue he had accumulated. In fact, he finally noticed that he wasn’t even breathing!

Naruto sighed as he found the situation he was in to be increasingly confusing and, as Shikamaru would put it, troublesome. He tested his arms and legs, finding out that he could move them which relieved him greatly — he didn’t like staying in one place for too long. Although his patience tolerance was increased during his years of training, he still had a shorter fuse than most people and it still irked him greatly if he was kept waiting or couldn’t do anything for long periods of time, but he was getting it under control at least.

Or at least trying to...

Pushing himself up to sit, Naruto looked around him to see if there was anything out of the usual white, which he found none. He took a deep breath, even though he couldn’t breathe, and spoke out loud, “Hello! Anyone there?!”

The silence was his answer, and he asked again. “Hello! Someone? Anyone?” and was greeted again by the deafening silence.

Naruto shivered as a cold chill ran through him. If he was to spend the rest of his days here, alone, without friends, family or even _enemies_, he would’ve preferred to be thrown into the Shinigami’s stomach and forced to fight for all eternity. At least that was better than slowly going insane in this realm…

“Ah, you’re finally here, my child,” a melodious voice said through the deafening silence, and Naruto immediately turned to look at the owner of the new voice, and he couldn’t help but be slack-jawed.

The owner of the voice was a beautiful woman of average height, her angelic features and long flowing midnight black hair didn’t do her justice as she was far beyond the epitome of true beauty. Her grey orbs shone with wisdom and compassion, and her flowing blue kimono with a red obi sash was swaying with the breeze, but to Naruto’s surprise and slight shock, he couldn’t feel any kind wind anywhere.

The woman smiled warmly at Naruto. “It’s good to see you well, my Child of Prophecy.”

Naruto looked at the woman in shock. “Y-You knew I was the Child of Prophecy?”

The woman nodded, the smile never leaving her features. “I was the one who bestowed upon you that title after all, long before you were brought into this world.” She explained, and Naruto was floored. Putting all the pieces together in his head, from the prophecy told to him by the Elder Toad Sage, along with the notes left by Jiraiya of the Sannin, and the fact that he was currently well and truly dead…

Then it all clicked, and his jaw fell again.

Slowly pointing a shaky finger at the woman, who still wore that warm smile on her face, Naruto finally found his voice, “Y-You’re K-Kami-sama!” he shouted a bit louder than usual. That was the only logical explanation he could come up with in this ridiculous situation, that the woman in front of him was in fact the Goddess of the Gods. His preposterous theory was proven true when the smile on the woman’s face widened just a fraction.

“As expected of the champion of my choosing,” Kami said, giggling when she saw that Naruto was still staring at her in disbelief. “And there is much more you don’t know, so much more, but never mind that.” She said as she gracefully sat down, gesturing for the young blonde to do the same, which he did, even if he was still confused. “So, tell me my child, what happened?”

Naruto broke himself out of his stupor, sighed and remained silent. After a moment, he spoke, his voice subdued and sad.

“Ōtsutsuki Kaguya ended the world, and I was in the thick of it, and I was powerless to stop it. That’s it, plain and simple.” It was obvious to everyone that the boy was extremely frustrated with himself for not being able to save his precious people, and he was blaming himself for it. “She was just ... too strong for us ... _how do you fight someone like that?_” he said the last part with as much venom as he could.

No matter what they did, be it ninjutsu or any other branches of the shinobi arts, the Rabbit Goddess had a counter for all of them, even their near-instantaneous teleportation techniques.

Kami nodded as she offered him a sad smile of her own. “I understand, I’m sorry for all the hardships you have to go through my child.” She said, and Naruto looked into her grey eyes, “Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was once mortal — a kind and gentle soul, scarred by war and violence, but corrupted by power — a power which she couldn’t even hope to contain and comprehend.” The deity explained as Naruto listened intently, paying full attention. “With her newfound power, she ended all conflict by enslaving the world, ruled with fear and intimidation. She was considered an abomination the moment she ingested the Shinju’s Chakra Fruit…”

Naruto had to agree with that sentiment. That woman’s a monster.

“But that’s not what I came here today for, a history lesson.” Kami explained as Naruto looked bewildered, “No, because I have need of you once again my child. Help me save another world from the fate of your own.”

At her words, Naruto’s eyes widened in shock. He spluttered as he tried to speak, “B-But Kami-sama! I couldn’t even save my own world and precious people, how am I going to save another world if couldn’t even protect my own?” he asked, self-doubt gnawing at him from every corner of his consciousness.

How could someone be trusted with such an enormous responsibility I they can’t even protect their own world from being destroyed? Even if he was the Child of Prophecy, his failures had to be taken into account right?

At his explanation, Kami merely shook her head. “That’s where you are wrong, Naruto-kun.” She said, sounding serious, making Naruto look up at her in confusion, “Ōtsutsuki Kaguya has been manipulating your world through her will. You know him as Black Zetsu.”

Naruto nodded. He recalled seeing the sick plant like mass of evil that kept spouting about how his ‘Okaa-sama’ was going to reclaim _her_ chakra, and proceeded to make a mockery out of the Uchiha Clan by manipulating them from the very beginning, starting the cycle of hate and suffering, the Curse of Hatred. He wanted nothing more than to shove a mountain sized Rasengan into the sick creature for messing with his best friend’s life, even before he was born.

“Through him, he kept tabs on everything and everyone involved in her return to life, and used him to steer the course of history in her favor.” Kami explained without missing a beat, “Madara, Obito, the Kyūbi’s attack on your village, Sasuke, the Uchiha Clan Massacre… and the list goes on. Kaguya had been the one to pull the strings in your world, thus, she was able to subdue both you and Sasuke so effortlessly. She had predicted your actions and acted accordingly — call in precognition if you will — giving her an almost certain win, no matter how you change the situation, the result would always be the same: Ōtsutsuki Kaguya winning the Fourth Shinobi World War.”

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger. So that’s how the woman killed him. It was such a cheap way to win that Naruto couldn’t help but feel even more disgusted by the Ōtsutsuki woman. 

“H-How…” Naruto muttered angrily, making Kami look at him sadly. “How can someone fight against something like _that_? It’s impossible!”

No matter how hard he fought to protect his precious people, they would still end up dead and Kaguya still wins. The world seemed to crash down around him as Naruto wallowed deeper and deeper into depression.

“There is one way.”

Naruto’s head shot up at that, azure eyes brimming with slight hope. “There is?”

There was a way? It all seemed impossible for him to beat something like someone predicting and basically programming your death. But so was standing here talking to a deity.

“Yes there is. Kaguya didn’t take into account outside interference: me.” Kami said with a smile, with was slowly mirrored by the young blonde, “I have watched countless of my worshippers live and die, prosper and suffer. But you my child, you have endured the harshest of them all. A kind young man such as yourself doesn’t deserve such torment.” Kami explained sadly, tears brimming in her eyes, making Naruto look at her in shock. “I’m sorry. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have suffered ... but you were my only hope, my champion.”

Naruto was completely speechless. Here he was — perhaps the only one — to be apologized to, by Kami herself. He felt honored in some twisted way, but he was too kind a person to receive such endearment, even if it was from a deity that made his early life a living hell.

He wasn’t that kind of person — he held no grudges.

“Don’t worry Kami-sama, I don’t blame you!” Naruto said with a bright grin, “I don’t like holding grudges, even against my enemies, but Kaguya’s an exception.” He struck a thinking pose, and smiled. “You could pay me back by helping me kick her ass though! I would appreciate that very much! Like giving me an extra strong bloodline! Oh! Oh! Like the Mokuton, or Meiton, that would be so cool if I did ...”

Kami giggled as Naruto went on about how he would rub it in Sasuke’s face if he did have Mokuton, or any other bloodlines for that matter. He was acting like the Naruto she knew, not the Naruto that the reality of war had produced. Naruto may not even have noticed that fact himself, but he was slowly becoming the embodiment of a battle-hardened shinobi — a cold, calculating and cynical individual, who always watches his back and ties up loose ends.

Kami giggled again. “Slow down Naruto-kun, I’m not done yet.” She said, and Naruto had the decency to look sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m going to throw a wrench in Kaguya’s plans — I am sending you to a parallel dimension.”

Naruto could only blink. “What?”

Kami giggled again. “Don’t worry. Everything is the same as your reality, only a few bits and pieces and minor details that changed, but nothing too _major_.” She said the last word with a small sense of mischief that Naruto easily picked up, and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Noticing the look, Kami asked with a flustered face, “What?”

He looked at her emotionlessly. “I’d recognize that tone anywhere.” He deadpanned, a smile slowly making its way onto his face, “It’s the way I talk when I wanted to prank somebody when I was younger.”

Lesson one in dealing with him: never prank a professional prankster, or he would be honor bound to prank you back, even if you were a deity.

Kami laughed awkwardly, making Naruto sweatdrop at her behavior. Was it a requirement for extremely powerful people to have their individual quirks? Jiraiya and Kakashi’s perverted tendencies immediately came to mind.

“I guess you’re right.” She said before continuing, changing topics quickly, “The only important thing that’s changed is that Kaguya no longer holds an advantage over you. She can’t predict what you will do next, but you know all her cards. _But be careful_,” Kami said seriously, “Think about what you’re about to change and act accordingly. Don’t deviate too much from the original timeline, or Kaguya’s will might suspect something — or worse, the entire fabric of reality might collapse in and onto itself.”

Naruto nodded seriously in response. No way he was screwing up on this once in a lifetime chance to save his friends, so he kept her words to heart.

“I think that’s all really,” Kami said with a nod.

Naruto nodded. He bowed deeply, “Thank you Kami-sama ... for this second chance.”

“Think nothing of it, my champion.” She replied with a graceful bow of her own, slightly shocking the blonde man. “Think of it as ... an apology, for making your life as difficult and deploring as it was.”

“Hai,” He nodded, “I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” Kami said as a glowing red circle with multiple different sealing arrays appeared under Naruto, “Be strong Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Find strength and courage along the way. Also, love is always right around the corner and in arms reach.”

“What?” was his intelligent response.

Kami giggled. “You’ll find it soon enough. Both wonderful and golden.” She cryptically said. “Be safe, my child. Now, I think someone’s waiting for you on the other side.”

Before Naruto can ask what she meant by that, he was engulfed by a bright flash of light and his world went dark.

It had been a long time since Naruto had been knocked unconscious by something. The last time had been when Sakura punched him through five apartment blocks, ten trees and a few thousand meters away from his apartment to training ground seven. _That_ had been a painful experience, and he had been the dense idiot then, and thinking back on it, he deserved it for his insensitive remark of her small chest and forehead. He would always remember the odd feeling of a growing headache that would last the entire day.

Naruto groaned as he forced one of his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was the tree canopy, probably one of Hi no Kuni’s (Land Of Fire) many forests, and also the blue sky. Managing to open both of his eyes, he craned his neck to scan his surroundings, and saw that he was in the forest of one of Konoha’s training grounds. Taking a closer look at the trees, he noticed them to be ... younger and healthier in some weird way.

He groaned again when he tried to move his arms and legs; all his long hours of fatigue and wear all coming back to him at once. Deciding to check his chakra reserves, he found out that they were almost empty, much to his shock. His massive reserves of chakra, monstrously so even, depleted to just a small trickle — just enough for him to stay alive.

Naruto then sensed something strange.

He felt power coming from multiple points of his body, almost like small storage devices. Gathering enough strength to raise one of his arms, he finally noticed the source of the energy signatures: Chakra Storage Seals. He grinned weakly as he can only guess one person who could give it to him. ‘_Thank you Kami-sama.’_ Without wasting any more time Naruto activated all of them with a slight flare of his chakra — there were ten seals in total — and soon he felt his strength and chakra coming back to him, filling up his reserves gradually, and he felt much better.

“Ouch,” Naruto muttered as he forced himself to sit up, and he started to chuckle weakly, “So this is what coming back to life feels like — honestly, it sucks.”

The blonde looked down and saw that he was no longer in his standard choice of clothing anymore. He was currently wearing a white t-shirt with a red whirlpool design on the back, a pair of brown khaki pants held together by an orange belt, and a pair of clean open-toed blue sandals. The change in clothing didn’t startle the young time and dimension traveler that much ... but it was the other change that shocked him. Quickly staggering to his feet, Naruto stretched out his sense — he was a damn good sensor when he wanted to be — he charted out a mental map of his surroundings, and smiled in relief when he sensed a small creek nearby.

“So ... thirsty,” the young man said and he made his way towards the general direction of the creek, and sure enough, it was there, the sounds of running fresh water were music to his ears. Kneeling in front of it, Naruto moaned in relief as the cool water made its way down his dry throat. He can never forget the particular sweet taste of Hi no Kuni’s fresh river water, which he missed dearly during the war, where fresh water was scarce and the land barren due to constant fighting. He proceeded to splash his face with water to refresh and was in the process of wiping it dry when he looked down at the water.

“W-What the hell?” the young blonde muttered, eyes wide in shock.

Staring back at him was his reflection, but it was not the face he was expecting to see. The Naruto who was staring back at him was very much younger than he was expecting — thirteen years old if he had to hazard a guess. But unlike when he was at that age, he looked more mature and his features were more pronounced. There was no baby fat left on his face, and most importantly, his trademark whisker-like birthmarks were gone, making him look like his father’s clone.

He noticed that he was fairly tall, a reasonable five-foot-five… much taller than his midget height of four-foot-nine when he was thirteen back then. Naruto sighed as he started to chuckle. Time travel and dimension travel weren’t his forte, but after melding with his father’s memories, he better understood the basics of Space-Time and was obliged to believe that this was all true, no matter how unbelievable it was.

This was certainly unexpected. Maybe this was what Kami wanted, sending him back in time to save the future. And for that second chance, he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Naruto chuckled, “Well, I can’t say I’m not happy about this.”

**“How can you not be?” **a voice said inside his head that made Naruto pause, and a small, tearful smile came on his face. **“One would think that being alive was a happy occasion, kit.” **

Naruto shook his head slightly as he laughed at that. He’d recognize that voice anywhere. It belonged to his lifelong companion, partner and surrogate big brother: Kurama, the Kyūbi no Kitsune. He could still remember the day when the Bijū swore on his life that he would protect Naruto and be with him always, as a brother and partner.

Centering in on himself, Naruto was soon standing in the familiar surroundings of his mindscape, which was still a very damp sewer — he definitely needed to fix that sometime in the future. It’s beyond degrading for one such as the Kyūbi no Kitsune to be living in such conditions.

Naruto smiled, “It’s great to see you, Kurama.”

The great fox nodded with a toothy grin, fox’s sharp canines widening as he did. **“Good to be back, kit. How are you feeling?”**

Naruto groaned, but grinned nonetheless. “Like I’ve been through hell and back, and then challenged Rock Lee to a spar while he’s drunk.”

He could still remember that day when someone accidently spiked Lee’s food with Sake, and Naruto had to resort to using his Sennin Mōdo (Sage Mode) to calm him down, destroying a few housing complexes and a training ground in the process. After that day, no one dared to let Lee near a sake bottle ever again.

Kurama’s howling laughter was his reply. **“Hah! I still remember that day”** he chortled,** “Broke an arm or two and a couple of ribs if I remembered correctly… had to heal your sorry ass from the ground up.”**

Naruto grimaced as he remembered the beating he took. “Yeah — that was embarrassing.”

After sobering, Kurama became serious. **“Joking aside, what are you going to do now? From what I can tell, you’re near Konoha in one of the training grounds.”**

Coming out of his mindscape and into the real world, Naruto nodded as he started to walk in the direction of the village.

“I don’t know Kurama, I really don’t know. How can I explain it to them when I see them?” He admitted. He cleared his throat, and in an overly comical voice, continued. “_‘Hi, I’m from another dimension, and sort of time travelled and was sent here by Kami to save the future?’_” He shook his head at that. “They’d label me as a lunatic and I’ll be sent to the loony bin faster than one could say Rasengan.”

**“Well, at least your sense of humor is intact,” **Kurama replied, amusement tinging his tone. Naruto gave him a mental equivalent of sticking his tongue out at the beast. Kurama sighed from where he was. **“Kit, it’s a lot more complicated than that.”**

“What do you mean?”

The Bijū cleared his throat, before speaking. **“I don’t know how to explain this, but it seems a part of my chakra is somewhere in the village.” **

Naruto visibly looked shocked as he staggered, not believing what he was hearing.

**“But it isn’t like the feeling of my Ying and Yang chakras where we split into two entities.”** Kurama continued,** “No, this feeling’s different. Before coming here, I was suddenly bombarded with images of my early days —** **you know, all angry and hate and malice, the whole nine-yards. I managed to overpower it and I felt … _whole, _for lack of a better term, again. Now, I feel like my old self again, and it feels like I’m in two places at once,” **Naruto listened intently as he tried to let the information sink in, **“The only conclusion I can give is this: there is another you in the village.”**

“Argh, that’s just great!” Naruto cried out in frustration as his suspicions were right on the dot. “Kami-sama, I don’t know where you are, but I’m so going to prank you for this mess!” he shouted up to the heavens. Now he finally knew what she meant by small changes. There were two of him in the world!

He slumped forward as he let that information sink in, “Can this get any worse?”

**“Well there is some good news,” **Kurama said, gaining his container’s attention, **“If I’m reading the chakra signatures right,” **a chuckle escaped from the fox’s snout, making Naruto slightly suspicious and wary. **“He’s a she.”**

“WHAT!?” Naruto’s shout echoed throughout the forest, causing the birds to fly away in fright as the trees ruffled from the force of the shout. “You mean that other me ... is a girl?”

Naruto felt Kurama mentally nod. **“I’m positive. No questions about it.”**

“But that means ...” Naruto started as a small, hopeful smile formed on his lips, “She’s my sister?”

As long as he could remember, he always craved for a family he could call his own, like how the Sandaime became his surrogate grandfather and Jiraiya his Godfather. And now Kurama, the greatest of the Bijū, was now his surrogate brother. But having blood relative meant so much more than that — it meant that he was having a _real _family, and he was certain his counterpart felt the same way too.

**“In a way, yes kit, she’s your sister.”** Kurama explained with a wistful sigh, **“Now you have a real family again, that means you don’t need me anymore. Heh, well, it was fun while it lasted …”**

In an instant, Naruto was in his mindscape and he tackled the great fox in a hug, but his enormous size meant that Naruto was only able to hug one of his giant paws, but it was still the same to him.

“Don’t you ever say that! You’re family now, and nothing’s going to change that!” Kurama looked down at Naruto, seeing the tears welling up in the young blonde’s eyes, and he immediately felt guilty. “Please Kurama, don’t say anything like that anymore. I lost my friends once, I don’t want to go through that pain again!”

Kurama sighed as he nodded. **“I’m sorry Naruto,” **he replied, **“I promise I won’t leave you ever again.”**

Naruto grinned as he wiped away his tears with the cuff of his arms. “You know you’ve mellowed out a lot more since becoming my brother,”

**“Don’t get too comfortable gaki, I’m not that mellow yet!”** Kurama stated with a barking laugh, and Naruto just smiled, same old Kurama. **“Now, you better get going kit — I think there’s someone coming.”**

And with that, Naruto was pulled out of his mindscape and into the real world. He noticed that he had been walking for a long time while talking to Kurama, as he was nearing the edge of the forest, and soon was in a clearing of some sorts. A strong sense of nostalgia hit him as he gazed at the training grounds.

In all his life, Naruto had only acquainted himself with only three training grounds of Konoha, and these were the places he always trained in.

The first was Training Ground 7, the meeting place of Team 7.

The second was the ‘unforgettable’ Training Ground 44, or ‘affectionately’ known to the locals (Mitarashi Anko comes to mind) as ‘the Forest of Death’.

And the last one was a bit more personal to the blonde, as it was at this training ground that he had found respite from the glares, jeers and mental-abuse from the villagers when he was younger — especially on his birthdays when the abuse was at its worst. It was the Hokage’s Private Training Ground 3. He had received permission from the then ruling Sandaime Hokage to use this place as his safe-haven from the villagers, as well as a temporary home as his apartment would most likely be thrashed in the villager’s ‘celebration’ of the ‘defeat’ of Kurama at the hands of his father.

Looking around the clearing, Naruto smiled as he breathed in the spring air whilst taking in his surroundings.

It was slightly smaller than the generic training grounds around Konoha, and it sported a standard ring of Konoha’s famous forests around the clearing, as well as a pristine lake which formed from a river further away to train Water Release techniques in. There was also a waterfall at the source of the river flow, which further enhances nature’s beauty in Naruto’s eyes.

A sudden sound of footsteps made Naruto tense up as he pulled out a kunai from his pants pocket, where only a few kunai and shuriken were stored. He made a mental note to himself to stock up on basic supplies and shop for new clothing. The t-shirt and khaki pants weren’t going to cut it.

Years of battle experience and the constant warfare made him act on reflex as he readied for whoever’s coming out of the forest. He unconsciously channeled chakra into his kunai, and had unknowingly formed a seal of some sort on the hilt of the kunai. Naruto expected to see an ugly White Zetsu or an enemy missing-nin jumping out of the forest to attack him, but instead he was greeted by the sight of a cute young girl with the same shade of golden blonde hair as his own.

“Finally, I’m a kunoichi now!” the young girl said enthusiastically, “Now I’m going to show the world that I can be the Hokage, even if I am a girl! Dattebane!”

Naruto dropped his kunai in shock. The newcomer was a girl of average height and of same age as him. Her long flowing golden blonde hair was tied into twin pigtails by two black ribbons and she had purple eyes that shone with innocence and determination.

Refocusing his vision, he took notice of the girl’s features, and he had to admit she was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen in his life, and the whisker-like birthmarks which at one time they both shared made her look exotic and cute. Her face was quite angelic, and the outfit she wore was a form fitting black and orange t-shirt with whirlpool designs and knee-length pants which expressed her great figure, which was well-developed for her age. And judging by her abnormally large chakra reserves, this was his counterpart.

He unconsciously gulped, blatantly ignoring the howling laughter in his head. His very _cute_ counterpart.

The girl finally took notice that she was not alone and turned to face him, a slight flush on her cheeks, “Huh? Who are you and why are you doing here?”

It was already embarrassing enough for her to shout out her verbal tic, but to let someone else hear it was even more so.

Naruto coughed a bit before speaking, “I’m new to this village, I just came here today.” He lied smoothly. He had already thought of a backstory on the fly while walking to the village — this was a good time as any to use it. “I stumbled upon this training ground while walking around the village, but I didn’t know this was a shinobi-only area. Sorry.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Naruto tensed ever so slightly. That was the look his mother Uzumaki Kushina would give when she was serious or that she was suspicious about something. Naruto mentally sweated at the intense stare the girl had while at the same time wondering just how different she was at that age compared to himself when he was the at same age.

“This is one of the Hokage’s Private Training Grounds.” The girl said, “You shouldn’t have been able to sneak in without the ANBU apprehending you.”

Naruto sighed in defeat. She was right as most normal civilians would’ve been apprehended by the ANBU by now. He had no choice but to be truthful with her now.

“Sorry about that,” Naruto said with a bow, “I’m meant no disrespect, as I lied to you from the start.” He became serious as his intense azure orbs locked onto the girl’s purple ones, “But I assure you, I mean no harm to you or the village. This I can promise you.”

“How can I be sure of that?” she asked again, her tone held hostility in it, and he noticed she was fingering her weapons pouch, “For all I know, you could be a foreign shinobi sent here to kill me or the Hokage or spy on the village.”

Naruto smiled a little when she said that, silently praising her again for her caution. “How do you know I’m a shinobi?”

The girl pointed at the fallen kunai. “That kunai was my clue, and I’m an accomplished sensor, and I sense that your chakra coils are highly developed, meaning you had shinobi training.” She explained casually.

Naruto then realized something: she was far more intelligent and mature than he ever was at her age. He was currently a seventeen-year-old with a mentality of a thirty-year-old in the body of a thirteen-year-old, so he could explain his ways. But the girl in front of him… she didn’t take things at face value, she questioned everything he had said, she was still very cautious around him and she was even more skeptical about his excuses — in short, she was a true kunoichi.

That thought alone made Naruto _very_ proud of his counterpart.

“Very perceptive, truly one worthy of her hitai-ate…” he complimented, making the girl’s eyes widen in surprise, “Yes, it’s true, but I assure you,” he knelt down and picked up the kunai, making the girl tense up, “I mean no harm. After all, my family’s in this village, so I couldn’t and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize its safety,” He said with conviction. He held the kunai to his palm, “And if it calms your thoughts…” he sliced it open, letting the blood drip from his palm, and onto the ground. “I swear, on my blood and my life, that I would never bring harm to your village.”

Already, Kurama was already healing him up as the cut was all but gone in a few moments.

The girl stared at the boy in shock. “Okay… I’m convinced.” Her posture relaxed as she moved her hand away from her weapon’s pouch. “What are you really here for, stranger-kun?” she asked with a cute smile.

Naruto smiled back, “I wanted to meet the Hokage, if it’s alright with you.”

The girl nodded, suddenly serious again. “Alright, but no funny business or the Jōnins will have your head.”

“Noted,” Naruto replied as he extended a hand, “Name’s Naruto, just Naruto.”

After some careful consideration with Kurama, he decided to not use his first name just yet, not after he had cleared it up with the Sandaime.

The girl looked stunned for a moment, spluttering slightly before composing herself and shook the extended hand, “Uzumaki Naruko, Genin of Konohagakure, and future and first female Hokage!” she said with a smile.

Naruto’s eyes widened a bit in shock. “Wow.” was all he said, which basically summed up all his thoughts.

“Wow is right,” Naruko stated with a giggle, “Come on, I’ll take you to the Hokage Mansion!”

Naruto just nodded as he followed the eager girl, “Alright then, lead the way!”


	2. Chapter Two: Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foreword: I don’t own Naruto or any other characters. All of it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

“So,” began Naruko as she walked backwards while facing Naruto. “Where exactly are you from, Naruto-san?”

Following at a slightly sedate pace, Naruto just shrugged. “I’ve told you, I’ll explain everything once we meet Hokage-sama. It’s not something I can freely tell to anyone. I’m sorry.”

Naruko pouted, earning a chuckle from the male blonde. “Fine, but you owe me!”

Naruto chuckled. “Hai, hai…”

The two of them were currently walking through the village of Konoha towards the Hokage Mansion, which was located just under the Hokage Monument at the back of the village. Naruto was hit yet again by a sense of nostalgia as he gazed upon the great stone faces of the previous Hokages, elegantly carved into the mountain. He maintained his gaze at the face furthest to the right, where Namikaze Minato’s monument stood. He silently prayed for his father and mother, and renewed his vow to defeat Kaguya once and for all.

It was about noon, and the village was as lively as Naruto remembered, and it made him quite happy. Hawkers and shopkeepers were busy selling their goods, children were all playing tag and ‘ninja’, while the adults were milling about their daily routines. The peaceful and lively atmosphere reminded Naruto about why Konoha shinobi fight in the first place. And here was the reason that he would do anything to protect them, if he can.

**“Don’t worry kit,” **Kurama said from within him. **“You’ll definitely save them this time — you have me remember?”**

_‘Thanks for the vote of confidence you cocky Kitsune,’_ Naruto mentally replied with a smile, earning a howl of laughter from his tenant.

**“Besides, you also have your counterpart as well, and by Kami, she’s one pretty little lady!”** Kurama commented with a wolfish whistle, **“She’s smart, mature and very much kunoichi material, definitely unlike you when you were her age. Maybe you should go for her kit! She’s definitely a good mating material!” **

Naruto stumbled slightly, shocked out of his wits. He waved off Naruko’s concerns as he continued walking as if nothing happened. Although many wouldn’t notice it, Naruto actually had a small blush on his face as he mentally frowned.

_‘Shut up, Kurama, just stop it… she’s my sister damn it!’_

To his chagrin, Kurama only laughed louder.

As Naruto looked around while trying fight down his blush and tune out the slightly perverted Bijū’s comments, he noticed that the villagers who saw Naruko… weren’t glaring at her or ignoring her as he would normally expect. In fact, they were actually _greeting _and _waving _at her, and the bubbly girl just waved back with a huge smile. That was when Naruto realized one of the major deviations of this dimension with his own — Uzumaki Naruko was already acknowledged by the village much, _much_ earlier than Naruto’s.

The very thing he fought for all his life, and he only got the recognition when he saved the village from Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain, sixteen years later.

Naruto then felt a sense of envy well up inside him at his counterpart’s treatment. He knew it was wrong to feel that way, but that particular emotion came up unannounced. How he wished the villagers back in his time would acknowledge him this early in his life, the he wouldn’t have to put up with the constant glares and harsh treatment from the villagers. He wouldn’t have been alone, unwanted.

Suddenly, a wave of soothing energy washed over him, and he noticed that Kurama was flooding his chakra coils with the calming effects of his Yang chakra, and Naruto sighed in content. _‘Thanks Kurama… I needed that.’_

**“Don’t mention it, and I think your crush is worried about you~”** Kurama sang out at the end, making Naruto frown mentally.

_‘I don’t have a— ‘_ he never finished the mental statement, because at that moment, his vision was blocked out by the cute face of Naruko, her face showing concern for the blonde male. He also noticed the close proximity between their faces, and he immediately blushed. _’Damn these teenaged hormones…’_

It also didn’t help when his tenant was teasing him all the while.

“Naruto-san, are you alright?” Naruko asked with concern, “Your face looked sad all of a sudden.”

Naruto shook his head and sighed as he smiled sadly at her. “You noticed huh?” he chuckled dryly. The way he chuckled reminded Naruko of someone truly sad and lonely… like how she had been when she was younger, and couldn’t help but find it similar, “I’m an orphan you know, my parents died protecting my home village from a walking natural disaster.”

Ignoring the indignant snort from a certain fox, he continued, “Ever since then, the villagers had always hated it, as they lost loved ones during the disaster, and they needed a scapegoat to vent out their sadness and anger. They found it in me.”

Naruko’s eyes widened in shock as she immediately related the male blonde’s plight with her own, a couple of years ago.

“The villagers always hated me, glared at me, ignored me, even going so far as overcharging spoilt goods and chasing me out of the village on my birthdays, as it’s the same date as when the natural disaster struck.” He continued, “Every day I tried to get them to acknowledge me for me, not for the things that I couldn’t possibly control. I played pranks on the villagers just to get their attention — even while negative it was far better than the glares and them pretending that I didn’t exist in their minds.”

The whole backstory of his was him thinking on the fly, but the emotions in them were real and genuine. He only twisted the tale of his mom and dad’s to better suit his own version, but the emotions in them held true.

Naruto didn’t even know he was crying until something wet slid down his face, and he reached up to wipe them away. He honestly couldn’t believe how a story he made up on the fly could get him to cry, but he got the message across at least. He looked up to see that Naruko had stopped walking, and was crying tears of her own.

He smiled a little in happiness. Someone was crying for him, even if it was for his plight. That was new for him.

“I-I’m sorry…” she started, voice uneven and watery due to the crying, “I-I shouldn’t h-have brought it up. I’m sorry!”

Naruto shook his head with a kind smile. “Don’t worry. It’s not your fault.” He soothed, gesturing to the scene around him. “The lively atmosphere here reminded me of what I could’ve had… and what I can have.”

“But still,” Naruko sniffed, “I-I was the one who opened old wounds. Please forgive my insensitivity!”

She bowed low, tears still falling from her eyes. She felt horrible at opening a wound that couldn’t easily be healed — she knew that better than anyone. She felt so useless and insensitive at her actions, and was hoping the blonde boy could forgive her. She was horribly snapped out of her pessimistic thoughts when she was embraced in a hug, from Naruto no less!

“Don’t blame yourself. You crying for me means that you do care about other people, and I’m grateful for it,” Naruto said, as he hugged the girl tighter, causing her to blush slightly. “Thank you for your concern. It’s refreshing really, since not many people showed me kindness out of the _goodness of their hearts_.” He said the last part with as much sarcasm as possible, making the girl in his arms giggle.

Naruko pulled away from the hug, blush still on her cheeks. “Thank you.” She whispered.

“You’re welcome,” Naruto said, before he smirked, “You know… I kind of like your hugs, it’s all warm and cuddly, like hugging a teddy bear!”

Naruko’s blush flared as she pouted indignantly at the accusation, “I-I’m not a teddy bear! I’m a kunoichi!”

Naruto laughed harder as she continued to pout, “I know, I know, I’m just teasing you. Now shall we get going?”

Finally having her blush under control, she nodded and smiled warmly. “Sure. Let’s go!” she said, and they both continued on their way towards the Hokage Mansion, with Naruko greeting the villagers and shinobi alike along the way, while Naruto just smiled warmly at his counterpart.

** _~ D ~ R ~_ **

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, was not having a good day.

First, last night he found out one of the Academy Chūnin instructors, a man named Tōji Mizuki, had deliberately sabotaged the Genin Exams of one of the top students of the gradating year out of spite for the Kyūbi, and then tricked the said Academy student into stealing the Scroll of Forbidden Seals which was kept under heavy guard by the ANBU and the Hokage in the safest vault in the Hokage Mansion, which the student did successfully and managed to get away with it!

The elderly Hokage was currently siting behind his desk, puffing on his stovepipe while reminiscing about last night’s events. He lowered his Hokage’s hat in embarrassment when he thought back on the way one Uzumaki Naruko did to get the scroll from him, even though she was caught red-handed by him during the act.

Hiruzen lowered his hat further in shame. _‘To think, me of all people, the Kami no Shinobi (God of Shinobi), would be defeated by such an absurd jutsu…’ _he sighed as he thought about the infamous **Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu)** used by the girl, which caused him to pass out from blood loss, _‘If word got out about this, my reputation and the villages’ would be inconceivably ruined… I think I might have to label that jutsu a kinjutsu, just in case.’_

He was snapped out of his reverie when the double burgundy doors into his office opened to reveal a middle-aged woman in her thirties with brown hair and dark eyes walk in.

She bowed respectfully. “Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen nodded with a grandfatherly smile. “Ah yes, Hikari-chan, what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?”

The newly named Hikari just rolled her eyes at her leader’s antics as Hiruzen chuckled, “Genin Uzumaki Naruko would like to speak with you. I believe she is bringing along a guest.”

The Hokage raised a surprised eyebrow at that information. “Really now?” he asked, wondering who might the guest be, “By all means — send them in.”

“Hai Hokage-sama.” and Hikari left, and soon a familiar figure emerged from the doorway, which immediately ran squealing towards him like a cannonball. No one had yet noticed a second figure that silently slipped through the door, and quietly pushed it closed.

“Jiji!!” the blonde bundle squealed like the innocent little girl she was supposed to be, and Hiruzen couldn’t help but laugh heartily. Over the years he had come to love the girl as one of his own, and he was overjoyed indeed when the villagers finally decided to let go of their old hatreds and welcome her with opened arms, despite the beast within her.

“Why, hello there Naruko-chan!” the Hokage said happily, “How are you today?”

Naruko, who was still sitting on the elder man’s lap, smiled brightly up at her surrogate grandfather, “I’m fine Jiji! I’m finally getting my shinobi license today!”

Hiruzen laughed again, “Good for you Naruko-chan! You’re one step closer to achieving your dream!”

Naruko giggled as she pumped her fists. “Of course I am! Dattebane!” She immediately covered her mouth in embarrassment as a blush formed on her face, whilst Hiruzen chuckled.

It was at that moment he took notice of a second presence in the room, and the wizened Hokage turned his attention towards the other occupant of the room. Before he could even speak, his jaw dropped slightly at the sight of the young man in front of him, his stovepipe dropping on the floor as he did. Naruko tilted her head in confusion at the Hokage’s actions, and she turned to look at her new friend for answers, who just stood there with a kind smile as he scratched the back of his head.

“M-Minato?”

Hiruzen couldn’t believe it, he swore that the boy in front of him was an exact replica of his predecessor when he was younger, and he couldn’t help but raise his hopes slightly at the thought of him being alive again.

To his slight dismay, the blonde boy merely shook his head with a warm smile. “No. I am not the Yondaime Hokage.”

Seeing where the conversation was going, the Sandaime turned to his surrogate granddaughter, “Naruko-chan, you better go get your license made. Your friend and I are going to have a little _chat_.”

Naruko stared at him confused as her mind was putting together the pieces of Naruto’s appearance to that of the Yondaime Hokage, her idol. She nodded nonetheless as she made her way out the room, her mind pondering the possibility of Naruto being the Yondaime’s son or relative.

Sparing one last worried glance at her new friend, who just gave her a reassuring smile, she made her way to the doors and started her journey to the roof, where the licenses were being made. In the back of her mind though, she silently hoped that Naruto somehow, by some miracle, would be her long-lost relative, as judging by their facial structures and blonde hair they were both in some ways similar.

But she knew it was a fleeting pipedream, but it provided some measure of comfort to the girl at least.

As soon as the doors closed, Hiruzen immediately stood up. “ANBU, leave us.”

Silently, four invisible ANBU vanished from the room, and Hiruzen put up a privacy seal around the room. Once done, he stared down at the blonde boy in front of him, his aura and chakra flaring as Killing Intent filled the room. “Depending on how you answer my questions, I will decide whether you live or die, is that understood?” To his surprise, the blonde didn’t even flinch when the boy nodded back, expression serious. “First of all, who are you?”

Naruto stared back at him with equal intensity.

“Depends on who’s asking.”

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as his Killing Intent flared to new heights. “The one asking is a man who can wipe you off the face of the Earth if you answer wrongly or snidely.” He clarified as he sat down, “Now, I’ll ask again — who are you?”

Naruto sighed as he smiled a little as his respect for the Sandaime went up a notch. No wonder he was called the _Kami no Shinobi _— his aura and Killing Intent would floor even experienced Jōnin and knock out inexperienced Chūnin and Genin.

But, Naruto reminded himself, he was far from an average shinobi.

Noticing the smile, Hiruzen frowned as he readied for anything. “Why are you smiling?”

Naruto chuckled. “Very impressive Jiji,” He said, making Hiruzen even angrier than before, before the blonde’s next cheerful words shocked him. “You haven’t changed a bit!”

Hiruzen was stunned. No one should have been able to withstand that much Killing Intent and not faint or be floored by it, much less a thirteen year old boy. To be able to withstand that kind of power and still be able to remain cheerful and outright _laugh_… the boy’s mental prowess must be astonishing!

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes in confusion, “What are you talking about? I’ve never met you before, much less talked to you.”

“No,” Naruto conceded, nodding as he did. “Not _you_ specifically, but by another version of you in an alternate reality / dimension, until I was thirteen.”

“Stop spewing such nonsense!” Hiruzen shouted, slamming his hands on his desk, cracking it. “How can anyone possibly believe that you came from another dimension / reality, even if it was true then what proof do you have?!”

He had heard a lot of crazy things in his long life, but this one took the cake. Another dimension? And from what he heard from the boy, who couldn’t be more than thirteen, time travel? This situation was getting really troublesome, really fast.

Elsewhere a certain pineapple haired man sneezed.

To his unending surprise, the blonde just shook his head. “I don’t just have proof, I have_ many _proofs.”

The boy then pulled out the kunai he had used earlier in the training grounds, and placed it on the Hokage’s desk.

After the little meet up with Naruko back at the field, Naruto noticed some residue chakra on the hilt of the blade, and when he examined it he found a seal of some sort engraved on it with chakra. He also noticed when he stretched out his senses, this seal appeared to his senses as some sort of tear in the fabric of Space-Time in which he can open at a whim, and when he tried opening it when no one’s looking — including Naruko — he had appeared at where the kunai and the seal had been almost instantly!

After consulting with Kurama and a bit of probing through his father’s memories, they concluded that since his father’s memories, including muscle memory, had been assimilated by him, it can only mean one thing: Naruto had unknowingly mastered the infamous **Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique). **

It irked him at first for mastering such a powerful technique through such a cheap way as a _memory transfer_, he was encouraged by Kurama to further improve upon it and find more ways to apply it on the battlefield, which got his hopes up on not copying his father’s jutsu without hard work.

Hiruzen looked at the ordinarily looking kunai and raised an eyebrow. “What does this have to do with you coming from another dimension?”

Naruto shook his head in amusement. “Trying holding it and see what you can find.” He offered, while discretely forming another Hiraishin Jutsu Shiki through the soles of his feet.

This was one way he tried to improve upon the Hiraishin, by placing jutsu shikis through his feet. It requires near perfect chakra control and it was impractical with his current mastery to be used effectively during battle, but perfect for a demonstration of his abilities.

The elderly Hokage tried to sense any ill-intent coming from the blonde. When finding none, he picked up the kunai and started to examine it. While to any normal observer, it would appear as any other regular kunai, but Hiruzen wasn’t called _‘the Professor’_ for nothing, as he sensed a trickle of chakra in the hilt of the blade and when he examined it, he noticed a seal engraved on it.

Upon closer inspection, Hiruzen’s eyes widened in shock and recognition and was about to say something when he felt a shift in the air in front of him. His eyes caught sight of a flash of yellow, and then a split second later the kunai in his hands was gone. He looked up to see Naruto standing there, casually spinning the kunai with his fingers through the ring at the hilt, a smile on his face. The old leader didn’t even have the chance to react!

Hiruzen staggered back in his seat slightly as he took in a shaky breath, not believing what he was seeing. “T-That was the…” he trailed off at the end, and he saw Naruto nod in affirmation.

“You thought right Jiji, that’s was the Yondaime’s prized jutsu, the Hiraishin.” Naruto said, and he put away the kunai into his pocket, “I guess that answers your questions about my abilities?”

Hiruzen just nodded numbly, eyes and mind still not comprehending the things he they had seen and processed. But no matter how he saw it, it will always be the same — the boy, a young thirteen-year-old, had just performed an S-Rank Ninjutsu known to many and used only by one. But still, even if the boy proved that he could perform a jutsu that could destroy an entire army in under a minute, that still didn’t automatically mean that he was from another dimension.

The old Kage needed more concrete proof than that, even though it was still _very_ impressive.

Hiruzen composed himself from the shock of seeing a legendary jutsu performed by a young boy, “While that was _very_ impressive indeed my young friend, that still doesn’t automatically prove you’re from another dimension.” He explained skeptically. “Forgive me for being skeptical but I need more concrete proof than the Hiraishin to even _begin_ to consider what you’re telling me.”

Naruto nodded in understanding.

“I figured you would say that, that’s why I brought a second proof — my heritage.” He said, becoming serious, “My birth name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto,” the Hokage’s eyes widened even further after that declaration, and his mind was going into shock. “Son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, but in order to protect me from my father’s enemies, my world’s you, the Sandaime Hokage, placed my name as Uzumaki Naruto, taking my mother’s maiden name. I am also the Jinchuriki of the Kyūbi no Kitsune, the strongest of the Bijū. You also passed a law that states that whoever brought up the Kyūbi incident and that the Jinchuriki of the Kyūbi was me, you’ll have them executed without trial for high treason.”

Hiruzen slumped further in his seat, mind racing furiously as the facts listed by the boy was irrefutable.

“And judging by your reaction,” Naruto continued, smiling slightly, “I’m guessing Naruko-chan was treated the same way? But from what I saw, she’s living a happy life.”

Hiruzen just nodded as a small smile graced his old features. “Yes, she is.” He said happily, “The villagers have finally let go of their old hatreds and welcomed her with open arms. That was not the case several years ago when animosity towards the Kyūbi was still high,” The old man chuckled, “It was because of her determination and goodwill to others that many had finally begun to see her as a kind, innocent girl who wants nothing more than your acknowledgement and friendship.”

Naruto briefly wondered if that could happen to him, when he was younger, but he just shrugged it off. No point living in the past.

Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temples as he did. “I think I don’t need any more proof than that…”

Naruto nodded. “If you want, I can get a blood test from the hospital if you still want confirmation.”

“No need, but it’ll help with official documentation.” Hiruzen replied, a thoughtful look on his wizened features. “From what I can tell the Hiraishin can only be used by Minato alone or one of his blood relatives, so that was all the proof I need.” He stated, and he physically relaxed, drained physically and mentally from the events during the past few minutes. “I’m getting too old for this shit…”

“Well I’ll be damned,” Naruto said with a laugh. “Sarutobi Hiruzen finally admitted he’s old!”

Hiruzen, despite the weariness, laughed along, albeit wearily. “You’re just like Naruko-chan, always the troublemaker.” He commented, earning him a cheeky grin from the blonde, which slowly turned into a sad smile. “Naruto?”

Suddenly, he was tackled by the young boy in a hug, and the old Kage slowly hugged him back. Despite meeting with Naruto only a few minutes ago, he already felt a sense of familiarity with the blonde, like how he felt with Naruko. Hiruzen smiled sadly as he felt the young boy tremble and shake in his hold, holding the old man in a strong grip, as if the boy was afraid he would disappear if he did.

Naruto sniffed as tears fell from his eyes. “This may sound weird since you’ve only just met me a few minutes ago,” he said, voice cracking from the emotion. “But I’ve missed you terribly, Jiji …”

Hiruzen just smiled sadly, “I know…”

Despite not knowing his counterpart, the Sandaime could safely assume that the other him and Naruto had grown very close, much like how Hiruzen himself and Naruko were now. Even now, he already considered the boy as one of his own grandchildren, even if he had known him for only a few minutes.

A sudden thought broke Hiruzen out of his stupor as he spoke, “Naruto,” the boy pulled back from the hug, “What do you mean by ‘until you were thirteen’? Did something happen to me after you were thirteen?”

It was a valid question, because as far as he knew, Naruko was going thirteen this year and he himself was still quite spry for a man in his late 60s. What had happened, he couldn’t help but wonder.

At his question, Naruto’s mood became sorrowful and sad, and it broke the old Kage’s heart. That was all the confirmation he needed know — he had seen that kind of look far too many times for his liking after the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars.

“I see,” Hiruzen said, knowing full well what that expression meant. “Who did it?”

Naruto grimaced slightly. “What do you mean?”

Hiruzen gripped Naruto’s shoulders tightly, forcing the boy to look up at him. “Who killed me, Naruto-kun?”

Naruto paused as he contemplated for second. If he told the Sandaime now about the events of the future, he could possibly tip off Black Zetsu and lose his Ace against Kaguya. But if he told only a select few of his plans, then it would be easier to control that information. But it would have to be a person that has his absolute trust — and the Sandaime was one of those people.

“Alright Jiji,” Naruto started, voice deadly serious, “What I’m about to tell you must _never_ leave this room. Period.” At this, Hiruzen’s eyes widened before nodding seriously, “This information could jeopardize the future of the Elemental Nations, and can only be told to a select few. Do you understand, Jiji?”

Hiruzen smiled. “Of course Naruto-kun,”

“Well if you break our pact I could just kill you.” Naruto joked.

“You really believe that merely with the Hiraishin, you could take me on and kill me?” Hiruzen joked back with a challenging grin, which was mirrored by the young blonde moments later.

“You underestimate me Jiji,” Naruto retorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest with a smirk. “I didn’t become a shinobi without my _‘particular set’_ of skills you know.”

Hiruzen chuckled as he leaned forward. “And what would that be?”

In truth, he was curious about the blonde boy’s abilities, as the Hiraishin alone already made him at low-Jōnin level.

A true prodigy indeed.

Naruto casually listed off his skills with his fingers. “One, I’m a Sage — I can utilize Natural Energy. Two, I have full cooperation of my tenant, who gives me a tremendous boost in my abilities. Three, I know a few dozen C-Rank and B-Rank jutsus, offense and defense — even though I rarely use them — and some A-Rank jutsus as well. Four, I’m immune to Genjutsu thanks to my tenant.” He said, grinning cheekily as he finished with, “And Five, I’m just plain awesome!”

Throughout the explanation, Hiruzen’s jaw dropped gradually as each of the skills was listed, and Naruto couldn’t help but chuckle.

Of course, there was also the Rikudō Sennin Mōdo, but he needn’t mention that.

Hiruzen shook his head in amusement and awe. “With those skills alone, you’re basically a Kage-level shinobi in your own right!” he exclaimed, “You’re still a Jinchuriki?”

Naruto nodded as he channeled chakra to his stomach, revealing the **Hakke no Fūin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Seal)**.

Hiruzen chuckled as he leaned back in his seat, “I think I may just retire and give you my hat,” he said with a laugh, “But that last point I beg to differ; Naruko-chan claims that she’s more awesome than anyone else.”

Naruto smirked. “Wanna bet?”

Hiruzen paled. “Oh, hell no — if your luck is anything like Naruko’s, I’ll be broke by the end of the day!”

Naruto laughed out loud at that. “You know it!”

After that, Naruto proceeded to explain his life and the major events that took place in extreme detail, right up until the Fourth Shinobi World War. After a lengthy, twenty minute discussion, Naruto finally sat back down and took a deep gulp of water to soothe his aching throat. The old Kage just sat behind his desk, letting the information sink in and be processed, and his expression was blank and unreadable. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Hiruzen finally spoke up, breaking it.

“So … the Progenitor of Chakra herself was responsible.” The powerful Kage murmured, his expression grim. “Never in my long years as a shinobi have I heard such a ridiculous story but coming from you, I would very much believe it like I was actually there.” The man chuckled as he rubbed his temples, “This is a lot to take in — who knew that world’s coming to an end in just a few years?”

“I know, Jiji. Take your time.” Naruto said with a sad smile. After all, it’s not every day you were told about your death at the hands of your former student and the end of the world by a mere teenager. “Promise you won’t do anything rash — at least consult with me first.”

Hiruzen nodded as he stood up and gazed down at his beloved village. There, he saw citizens and shinobi milling about their daily lives. To think that this peaceful atmosphere would be shattered in the next few years was unimaginable. But, Hiruzen believed Naruto’s story — he had seen the haunted look in the boy’s cerulean orbs when he had elaborated on the war, a sight which very nearly broke the old man’s heart. No boy as young as Naruto should possess that kind of look, the look of a battle-weary soldier who had seen too much.

The war was coming. They needed to prepare.

“I promise Naruto-kun. I won’t do anything without consulting you first.” the man said as he turned to face the young blonde, “Actually, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What is it?” Naruto asked eagerly.

Back in his time, the only times the Hokage asks a favor of him was always the most rewarding of them all, like free ramen or a field trip with the Hokage to the Monument to watch the sunset. It was both memorable and delighting, and Naruto missed those times with his first precious person.

Hiruzen walked to his desk and opened a drawer, and he fished out some papers and began to write something down. After finishing, he handed them to Naruto. “Give this to one of the Academy instructors.” He instructed, as Naruto took the paper from his hand. “They’ll give you a test and proceed to make you a Genin. And when that’s done, one of these days, come find me where we can test your true skills,” The old man explained, and Naruto nodded with a smile.

He was getting his rank back. He may be still a Genin when he ‘left’ his old world, it still stung his pride for being the only one along with Sasuke out of the Konoha 12 to still remain as a Genin for so long.

“And also, this…” The Hokage handed a second paper to him, and the young blonde’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he read them.

These were Konoha’s official adoption papers, and it listed him as one of the guardians.

The Hokage chuckled at the boy’s reaction, who just stared back at him in disbelief. “Yes Naruto-kun, I’m asking you to officially adopt Naruko-chan as your younger sister.” He said, holding up his hand to halt Naruto’s impending question. “And before you ask, it’s completely legal as you are officially an adult once you receive your Genin rank. And, since it is beyond question that you would certainly pass the test, I foresee no problems with my proposal.”

Naruto slowly looked up at him, eyes pleading with emotion and uncertainty. “B-But… am I ready for this?” the boy asked, suddenly unsure of himself, and Hiruzen had never seen the confident and strong young boy this vulnerable ever since he met him. “All I really wanted was a family to call my own… but what if I can’t protect her like how I can’t protect my people back home? What if—?”

“Naruto!” the Hokage said sternly, making Naruto flinch slightly, and Hiruzen sighed. “If you keep on doubting yourself again, you’ll never be able to move on with your life ever again.” A brief memory of a blonde woman with brown eyes and wearing a green jacket suddenly flashed across his eyes, and Hiruzen let out a sad sigh, “Ask yourself not ‘what ifs’, ask yourself ‘what is’. What is going to happen if you back down? What is going to happen if you don’t move on and be stronger than you were yesterday? How can you protect those close to you if you can’t save you… from yourself?”

The Hokage’s words struck a chord deep within Naruto’s consciousness, and he mentally berated himself for forsaking his own nindō, his shinobi way. ‘Never give up, never back down, keep striving and enduring.’ That’s the basis for his very way of life. Shaking his head to clear them of negative thoughts, Naruto took a deep breath and sighed.

He looked up at the Hokage who was looking at him in concern, “Thank you Jiji. You really are the wisest Kage in the Elemental Nations.”

Hiruzen chuckled as he knelt in front of him. “You’re wiser than you think Naruto, so don’t worry about it too much.” The old man stated, and he smiled as he stood up, “I expect you to be well-behaved when she becomes your sister.” Naruto nodded seriously as he held the quill, ready to sign his name onto the contract, “I don’t want to be a great-grandfather so soon, so take it slow.”

Naruto immediately spluttered as his face became tomato red as he glared at the old man. “W-What the hell Sarutobi, how can you even suggest that?!”

“Well, I maybe old but I’m certainly not senile,” Hiruzen replied with a grin, “I’ve seen how you two act — don’t tell me a growing boy like you hadn’t even taken a slight interest with such a beautiful girl like Naruko-chan?”

“W-Well, m-maybe a little…” Naruto stammered with a mock glare, inside his mind a certain fox was laughing up a storm, much to his chagrin. “But that’s not the point here. Don’t push it or I’ll burn your Icha Icha Collection!”

Hiruzen paled slightly, before a grin replaced it.

“As Hokage, I can ban the sale of ramen in and out of the village for the rest of the year.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Only if you stay away from my collection.”

The two of them stared intently into each other’s eyes, neither of them flinching as they held their gaze. The staring contest continued, and one could see sparks flying between them. A tense silence followed, before both of them suddenly broke out in laughter.

Naruto laughed as he wiped the tears from his eyes, “Alright, alright you win Jiji.”

The wizened Kage chuckled as he smiled. “I always to do that with Naruko-chan, and she always gives in just as easily as you did when I threatened to take away her ramen.”

Naruto just grinned. “I was going easy on you old man, wouldn’t want you bursting a vein or something.” He said with a chuckle. Naruto signed the contract and handed it back to Hiruzen, who scanned it over one final time before nodding.

“Okay. We’re done. Naruko-chan is now officially your sister… if I can break it to her that is.” He stated with a small smile, “I trust you tell her about her own heritage?”

“Hai Jiji,” Naruto said seriously, “I’ll tell her when she’s ready.”

“I’m sure she’ll surprise you Naruto-kun, she’s not unpredictable for nothing you know. And judging by the way she looked at you when she walked out the door…” the powerful man chuckled at the blonde male’s blush, “I think she’ll accept the arrangement just fine.”

The Sandaime then did a few hand signs and the privacy seal was dropped. “Only a few minutes has passed in the real world, so Naruko-chan should be back right about… now.”

And sure enough the burgundy doors burst open to reveal the young girl with a happy smile on her face. “Hey Jiji, I’m back!” Naruko shouted before she noticed her friend in the room. “Hey Naruto-kun! So how did your talk with Jiji go?”

Naruto nodded with a kind smile. “It’s all good. Hokage-sama allowed me to join the shinobi corps if I pass a certain test.”

The excited girl was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet at the news, “That’s great! That means you get to come with us on missions!” she said excitedly, causing the two other occupants of the room to chuckle at her exuberance.

Unbeknown to Naruto, this was the side which the girl only displayed to her closest people.

She then noticed a paper in Naruto’s hands, and she decided to ask, “What’s that you’re holding Naruto-kun?”

Naruto looked down at the object in question and grinned as he handed it to her, which she took and started to read. “Why don’t you take a look for yourself?” he offered as he waited for the girl to finish.

Naruko started to read out loud as she scanned the paper. “I, as Hokage of Konoha, declare that one Uzumaki Naruko would officially be… a-adopted,” she stumbled over the words, not believing what she was reading, and she continued despite the growing feeling of hope in her heart, “And be put under the care of one… U-U-Uzumaki N-Naruto?!”

Her eyes widened exponentially as she looked up at her friend-turned-family member, tears slowly welling in her eyes as she dropped the paper she was reading in shock. Her hands slowly came up to cover her mouth as she couldn’t believe what was happening to her right now. Her silent plea for Naruto to miraculously be her family member had finally come true, and she was overwhelmed with emotion.

Naruto stepped forward and placed a hand on one of her shoulders, making her watery eyes look up at him and into his beautiful azure orbs. There she saw compassion, understanding and… love, unconditional love for her and the silent message that he would never leave her alone again, no matter how impossible it may seem. She thanked whoever that was above for letting her stumble upon Naruto in the first place, and for that she was forever grateful.

She sniffed as she looked up at Naruto, eyes watery and puffy. “O-Onii-chan…”

The blonde boy just smiled even wider when he heard the words he wanted to hear ever since he had found out Naruko shared his blood. “Yes Naruko-chan, I am your onii-chan. From now on and forever.” He said, grinning as he did. “So, you better get used to me around here!”

Naruko just cried even harder.

“O-Onii-chan…” She couldn’t take it any longer as she tackled her new brother in a bone-crushing hug, making both of them fall unceremoniously to the floor. “Onii-chan!” she cried out in happiness, and Naruto just hugged her back tighter as he laughed while she cried into his chest.

Hiruzen just looked on with a warm smile on his face. He knew that the appearance of Naruto would forever change Naruko’s life, and quite possibly the entire world as they knew it. The old man couldn’t help but look forward to the future.

‘_This is the start of something ... truly beautiful.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END  
Phew, now that’s done and out of the way. How do you like it so far? Good? Bad? Boring? Anything, just review the story.   
Note: rewritten as of December 12th, 2015.  
REVIEWS ARE LOVE.   
HEIROFROHAN signing off  
PEACE!


	3. Chapter Three: Settling In

Foreword: I don’t own Naruto or any other characters. All of it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Destiny Rebirth – Chapter Three: Settling In**

Naruto was currently walking through the village in the afternoon heat from the Hokage’s office towards his destination, which was right beside the Hokage Mansion. Another wave of nostalgia assaulted him when he reminisced about the place where he began his shinobi career. The instructors, his friends, the third years, the first years — it really brought back many memorable memories. He remembered when he used to prank the Academy instructors almost every day and always got detention because of it.

Thinking back, his pranking skills really helped him in trap setting and stealth, as most of his pranks weren’t detected until the last minute. He was broken out of his stupor when he arrived at the destination, which was the Academy Building.

He would’ve gone in already, but he was currently losing circulation in his right arm.

“Ano, Naruko-chan,” Naruto said while poking the girls head, trying to pry her off his poorly circulated arm, “Can you… you know, let go of my arm now? I can’t feel my hands…”

Ever since she had officially become his sister, Naruko had been stuck to him like glue on paper, refusing to let go of him for fear he would run off or disappear if she let go. Right now she was clinging to his right arm like a vice, which led to his current predicament.

Naruko looked up at him with a pout. “Do I have to onii-chan?” she asked innocently, which of course it wasn’t as innocent as it sounded if Naruto’s emotions sensing was accurate. She was doing this on purpose just to get a rise out of him, since he’s her new Onii-chan she would want to have a little fun with her new brother.

“Yes, if not I can’t write and I’ll fail my test and I won’t become a shinobi and I won’t be able to bring you to Ichiraku’s anymore,” Naruto deadpanned.

He smirked when he saw the girl’s face grow paler by the minute and she finally let his arm free. Groaning at getting feeling back into his arm again, he looked at Naruko who looked sheepish and embarrassed. “Don’t worry Naruko-chan; it’s not your fault.” He reassured, “You just couldn’t control yourself that’s all.”

Naruko blushed as she placed her hands at her back, looking as innocent as possible. “It’s the first time I have an older brother… of course I can’t control myself.” She then smiled brightly up at him, “But that’s the fun part about it, wouldn’t you say?”

Naruto chuckled as he walked in the front door, with Naruko following closely just behind him. “Hai, hai… whatever you say _Naruko-hime_.” He smirked at the tomato red blush on her face as he made his way through one of the corridors before stopping outside a door that read “Chūnin Office”.

“This must be it,” Naruto said as he opened the door, and the first thing he saw was a yellow blur that rushed into the room and the next thing he knew he saw what appeared to be his sister glomping on a poor Chūnin on the ground. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her sister’s antics as she was almost the same as he was — hyperactive and unpredictable.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruko shouted, causing Naruto to look up in slight surprise with a smile on his face, “You won’t believe the most amazing thing that has happened to me!”

The newly named Umino Iruka chuckled as he tried to pry his ex-student off him. “Alright, hold your horses’ young lady,” He said, causing the girl to pout, “Let me guess… you’ve got a month’s worth of ramen coupons?”

Naruko pouted harder as she shook her head. “No! Even better!” She got off him and headed straight for Naruto, pulling him by his arm towards the scarred Chūnin, “I have an older brother!”

Iruka’s eyes widened tenfold when he heard that, and he immediately began looking over the supposed older brother of his favorite student. The young blonde man had a smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. After a minute’s silence, Iruka spoke up.

“I trust that you didn’t do anything inappropriate to my student?” he asked, causing both blondes to blush, Naruko’s deeper than the other blonde’s.

“Iruka-sensei!” Naruko shouted.

Naruto chuckled as he composed himself. “Don’t worry Naruko-chan, he’s just messing with you.” He said placatingly. “Plus, if you were in his shoes, what would you do?”

Iruka gave him an appraising look when he said that. It had been a long time since Naruto had seen his favorite Academy instructor again since the event at Turtle Island, and meeting the man again made the young blonde quite happy indeed.

Naruko bowed her head. “Sorry Iruka-sensei.” She said, which the Chūnin just waved it off.

“It’s fine.” He said, “So tell me, what can I do for you today?”

Naruto handed the paper the Hokage gave him to the scarred Chūnin, which he took and began to scan it.

“Hokage-sama gave me permission to join the shinobi corps and be placed with the graduating class. You just have to administer a test and we’re done.” Naruto explained.

Truth be told, he had been eager to test his newfound skills and intellect on the Genin Exams, since he failed them thrice already, it wouldn’t hurt to pass it without being interfered by outside influences.

Cough, Mizuki, Cough.

Iruka nodded.

“Uzumaki Naruto, eh? Okay. Follow me — since I’m free I’ll be the one to administer your test.” He said, turning around as he beckoned the two of them to follow him.

The scarred teacher led them to one of the Academy grounds, where five target dummies can be seen in the clearing. On the other side of the clearing, there was a table where multiple shuriken and kunai can be seen arranged on top of it. Iruka lead Naruto towards the table while Naruko stood aside to watch.

Once there, Iruka nodded towards the targets. “Alright Naruto, first up is the weapons aptitude test. Hit as many targets with the bull’s-eye as you can with only five kunai and five shuriken.”

Naruto nodded as he picked up the required number of weapons and held them at the ready, five kunai and five shuriken in each hand.

“Ready,” Iruka announced as Naruto tensed, closing his eyes as he mentally calculated the distance and the wind speed and the weight of his weapons as Naruko watched intently on the sidelines. “Start!”

Without a moment’s waste, he launched both sets of weapons at the same time towards their targets. The sounds of weapons whistling through the air can be heard before ten simultaneous thuds were heard downrange. Opening his eyes, Naruto nodded in satisfaction as he had hit all the targets dead center.

He looked back at Iruka who had his jaw on the ground along with his clipboard. Naruko was cheering about how cool he was and how he can easily get ‘Rookie of the Year’ if he’d joined earlier. Naruto was a humble man — well, after the merging anyway — but hearing the praise directed at him from Naruko made him feel accomplished and made him proud of his own abilities.

Iruka finally managed to pick up his clipboard and find his voice, “T-That’s a perfect ten out of ten in less than five seconds! Only Uchiha Itachi has ever beaten that record!” the scarred chūnin said in awe, and Naruto nodded with a smile and Naruko was just standing there in awe of her new brother.

Who knew that her Onii-chan can be such a badass, and be humble and kind at the same time… certainly unlike a certain brooder she knew.

Iruka cleared his throat as Naruto retrieved the weapons, “Alright Naruto, since this is a field exam, there will not be a written portion, so we just have to skip to the three basic jutsus,” He explained.

Naruto just nodded. It would be easier this way, he mused, though he still wanted to try out the written test at a later date.

“Alright sensei, hit it,” Naruto said.

Iruka nodded, “First up is the **Kawarimi (Replacement)**,” he pointed towards a nearby chair, “Replace yourself with that chair over there.”

The place where Naruto was originally standing was replaced by the chair while Naruto took its place, then he switched back. Nodding in satisfaction, Iruka spoke, “Alright, now for the **Henge (Transformation)**, change into an exact replica of me.”

Naruto nodded and he changed into Iruka, who smiled back at the real one before dispersing, revealing Naruto once more.

“Now last of all, the **Bunshin (Clone)**,” Iruka said, but was stopped by Naruto’s raised hand, “Yes?”

“Can it be any form of clone?” Naruto asked.

Iruka nodded. “It can as long as it’s a clone.” He clarified, slightly confused. The **Bunshin** was the easiest jutsu an Academy student can master, with the exception of Naruko with her large reserves, he couldn’t see why Naruto should had trouble with it.

Naruto sighed in relief, “Thank Kami, I suck at **Bunshin**!” he said with a laugh, earning a sweatdrop from Iruka and a laugh from Naruko, “But I can do this — **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Jutsu)**”

The clearing exploded in a cloud of smoke and when it dissipated, there standing before Iruka were dozens of Narutos holding peace signs at him, and his clipboard quickly fell. Naruko was in a similar situation as her eyes widened at her brother’s use of her new and favorite technique. How and where had he learnt it? It doesn’t matter much to Naruko at the moment since her view of her brother shot up to new heights as she cheered for him.

“Way to go Onii-chan!”

All the Narutos turned to her and they all grinned. “Thanks, Naruko-chan!” they all said at once before dispelling themselves, and the original was left standing in the Academy grounds, a smile on his face.

“O-Okay…” Iruka stuttered as he marked all the points on his clipboard. The boy had just performed a B-Rank Kinjutsu effortlessly and sporting the same number of clones Naruko had made without even feeling winded. ‘_The younger generation looks promising… I can’t wait to see what they’re going to accomplish in the future…’_ he thought with a smile.

“You’re officially a Genin, Naruto.” Iruka announced, and Naruto nodded with a small smile. “The taijutsu test I’ll give it to you tomorrow during team placements, so don’t be late. You’ve scored higher points than our ‘Rookie of the Year’ Uchiha Sasuke. The only one amongst the graduating class who comes close to your own practical scores is our ‘Kunoichi of the Year’, Uzumaki Naruko, who scored the highest in both written and practical tests for three years running — a record once held by Hatake Kakashi.”

Iruka couldn’t keep the note of pride out of his voice as he announced Naruto’s scores. He was still in awe of the boy’s skill for one so young — he swore he saw the Yondaime in Naruto when he was taking the tests.

Naruto looked at his blushing sister with a raised eyebrow. “’Kunoichi of the Year’?” he asked, making Naruko blush even harder. Naruto grinned widely at her, “And you’re going to tell me all this when?”

Naruko spluttered as she tried to speak, “I-I was going to tell you over ramen tonight!”

Naruto grinned as he chuckled. “Then how about we celebrate it now? Iruka-sensei’s treat!”

“Yatta!”

“Hey! Don’t I get a say in this?!” An indignant Iruka shouted, causing all three of them to burst out laughing. Iruka retrieved a hitai-ate from his back pocket and tossed it to Naruto, who caught it with ease. “Congratulations Naruto, you’ve made it, on your first try too!”

Naruto smiled wistfully as ran his hand over the metal plate where the symbol of Konoha was engraved, and proceeded to tie it on his forehead, letting his bangs fall to the sides of his face and forehead. At that moment both Iruka and Naruko saw for a split second the Yondaime Hokage standing there instead of Naruto.

The young blonde male turned towards them and smiled, “Well what are we waiting for?”

Naruko giggled as she cheered. “Ichiraku’s, here we come!”

Iruka sighed as he checked his poor wallet, slumping his head in dismay when he saw it was only enough to cover his expenses for the week. It looks like he was back to eating fermented beans and ramen again this month.

After having their share of the ramen, with Naruto eating just as much as Naruko much to Iruka’s horror, the new brother and sister were currently walking at a sedate pace towards Naruko’s spacey apartment. Apparently, the villagers decided to buy her a new home to atone for their mistakes and they bought her a house near the center of the village near the park years ago. Much to Naruto’s relief, her apartment was spacious enough to house two bedrooms — he _knew_ for a fact that Naruko wouldn’t allow him to sleep on the couch.

The meeting with the Ichirakus was a refreshing experience for Naruto, as he had missed his surrogate family a great deal back during the war. After hearing about him being the new big brother to Naruko, Ayame practically squealed in happiness as she hugged the daylights out of Naruko, much to the blonde girl’s chagrin and Naruto’s unending amusement. Teuchi welcomed Naruto into the family with open arms and an extra-large serving of his favorite miso ramen, and also a hidden warning sent by the ramen chef.

_‘Hurt her, and you’re dead.’_ Were the exact words spoken to him by Teuchi. Naruto decided to take his threat seriously, since the man emphasized his point by sharpening his cutting knife in front of him slowly and carefully, much to the amusement of Iruka, Ayame, a blushing Naruko, and a certain fox in his gut.

And now here they were, walking hand in hand towards Naruko’s apartment. Apparently Naruko didn’t want to break physical contact with her new brother, and wanted to stay with him throughout the entire day, much to his embarrassment. Soon, they were at the front door to her apartment, and Naruko immediately went about unlocking the door and pulled her brother in once it opened.

Taking a few moments to refocus his vision when Naruko switched on the lights, one word came to his mind — comfortable.

Her apartment was spacious yet clean and orderly, with a small living room with a large red couch and a television set. Further back was a fully-stocked kitchen and a guest bathroom, and down the corridor to left of the front door were the bedrooms. Naruto saw that his sister’s bedroom was filled with orange fox plushies that she unsuccessfully tried to hide from him, causing him to burst out laughing at the irony of it all. There was also a dressing table, a queen-sized bed with red bed sheets, and a wardrobe along with a connected bathroom that linked to his room.

He also noticed that Naruko didn’t care that much about her appearance as much as the other girls she knew in the Academy, judging by the lack of make-up she had on her dressing table. She said she would prefer spending most of her free time training rather than put on make-up to try and woo the boys. Her answer got her praise from Naruto and she blushed in appreciation. His own room was also spacious as there was the linked bathroom, a dressing table, a queen-sized bed and a wardrobe.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto had asked Naruko why she had an extra room prepared, and she answered saying that she still held on to hope, no matter how slim it was, that a long-lost family member was still alive and waiting for her. She then said her wish came true and Naruto came into her life, much to her joy.

Naruto smiled sadly as he hugged a teary-eyed Naruko as she cried tears of happiness, and carried her to bed when she had fallen asleep in his arms.

Naruto was currently staring up at the ceiling of his new room, waiting for the time to pass or his sleepiness to take over. He was still thinking about his future plans to deal with Kaguya with Kurama when he heard the door to his room open. Imagine his surprise and embarrassment when Naruko came in with an elegant purple nightgown that expressed her developing figure as she closed the door behind her.

Sighing as he sat up on his bed, Naruto asked. “What is it Naruko-chan?”

Naruko looked hesitant as she played with her golden blonde hair which was freely flowing down her back and reached to her knees. She had wanted to do this with her precious big brother for a while now, so she mustered up her courage and spoke, “Onii-chan… can I sleep with you?”

Naruto raised a surprised eyebrow in the dim lighting of the room, sitting up straighter. “Why?”

“I can’t sleep…” she said shyly, shuffling her feet as she did, “I-I don’t want to feel alone again… I’m scared that this is some elaborate genjutsu just to break my heart…” Naruto’s eyes softened as he heard her pleading tone, “I-I’m scared that you’ll disappear.”

“I see…” Naruto said, before he smiled, moving aside and patting the empty space beside him, “Come here then.”

Without wasting any more time, she bolted towards the empty spot and proceeded to curl up beside him. Naruto laid back down on the bed as he wrapped his arms around his sister, slowly rocking her to sleep. He was about to drift off as well when she heard Naruko whisper something.

“Ano… Onii-chan?”

“Yes Naruko-chan?”

She proceeded to kiss him on the forehead, leaving him frozen in place. “Good night …”

An involuntary surge of happiness welled up within him, and he resisted the urge to shout out to the world about how happy he was feeling. He had finally known what a family’s love was, and he couldn’t be more relieved and happy. He had found his purpose of living, a person he would die to protect.

Breaking out of his stupor, he smiled as he responded by kissing _her_ forehead, earning a blush from her in return, “Good night, Naruko-chan…”

As the new brother and sister drifted off under the night sky, their hands unconsciously intertwined together during the night with small smiles gracing their lips.

The next day, as the golden rays of the morning sun shone through the lace curtains of the room, illuminating the peaceful sleeping face of Naruko, whose eyes twitched a little before slowly opening, and she wondered why she was feeling so warm and safe at the moment.

Her purple eyes widened as memories from last night flashed through her mind, and she immediately looked around, softening as she laid her eyes on the sleeping form of Naruto still holding her in an embrace, and she relaxed as her fears subsided. The young girl was scared that yesterday’s events were just a series of illusions caused by a genjutsu, and she was very worried that her new found happiness was just a cruel joke played by someone. She smiled warmly as she snuggled deeper into her brother’s chest, closing her eyes as she tried to get some more sleep…

Suddenly, her bedside alarm clock sounded off, and Naruko had to resist the urge to groan as she wanted to spend as much time with her new precious person. She blushed as her thoughts suddenly derailed and headed somewhere _inappropriate_, and she shook her head vigorously to clear them as she slipped out of Naruto’s embrace and stopped the alarm clock, which showed it was about eight in the morning. She berated herself for feeling that way towards her brother, which was wrong to her in so many ways. But, in the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but feel that her feelings were… _right_.

Naruko had never felt this way towards anyone before, not even Sasuke or Kiba back in the Academy. Sasuke she wouldn’t even give him the light of day with her, and Kiba was just too boisterous and loud to her liking. Her growing feelings towards her new brother were _different_, which to her was a hundred times more powerful than her slight feelings toward the Inuzuka heir.

She sighed as she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She would dwell on those feelings later, and figure out on her own what her feelings were at this point in her own time.

“Good Morning, Naruko-chan,” a voice called, and Naruko jumped slightly as she turned to face a fully awake Naruto with a warm smile on his face, “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

Naruko nodded. “Yes, I did. Thank you for asking Onii-chan.” She replied cheerfully. “How long were you awake?”

“Not long,” the boy replied, stretching his muscles in his arms as he did so, “A few minutes ago when I saw you stop that annoying clock.”

Naruko giggled. “Sorry about that… I wanted for us to stay in a little longer…”

Naruto sighed as he stood up from the bed. “Though I would like that as it gives us more brother-sister bonding time…” Naruko blushed as she remembered her thoughts from earlier, quickly quashing them before it could go any further, “We do have team placements to attend you know.”

Naruko nodded.

“Alright, I’ll go change then.” Without waiting for an answer, she ran into the bathroom and closed it shut, but not before calling out, “There’s a fresh towel and toothbrush in the dressing table! You can use my toothpaste since you don’t have one!”

Naruto chuckled as he pulled out a scroll. “You’ve got it Naruko-chan,” he muttered as he channeled chakra into the scroll, and a set of clothes came out in a puff of smoke.

Before leaving the Hokage’s office, Naruto had requested the old Kage for a new set of clothes and new equipment, to which the old man happily complied as he immediately ordered one of his most trusted ANBU, Neko, to fulfill the order. Additionally, Naruto had also requested tri-pronged kunais to be made and also some high quality chakra-conducive ink and fūinjutsu supplies, and the ever perceptive Hiruzen had a pretty good idea on what they were for as he had them ordered and made personally.

He began to slip into his new attire, which consisted of an orange shirt over a fishnet bodysuit with a grey hoodie jacket with a red whirlpool design on the back over it, blue shinobi pants held together by a black belt, and a pair of black sandals. Naruto proceed to attach two kunai holsters to his thighs, one on each leg, and a weapons pouch to his waist. The jacket he wore also served a second purpose: the pockets was where he stored all his sealing scrolls and fūinjutsu supplies through an applied storage seal which stored his belongings away in a pocket dimension, so he wouldn’t have to carry much during long travels.

He silently thanked his father and Kurama for teaching him that. It would be a _pain_ to lug around all that extra equipment when he was travelling.

**“You’re welcome.”** The Bijū in question said.

Naruto chuckled as he zipped up his jacket. _‘You’ve been quiet all night, what’s up?’_

**“Oh nothing, just enjoying the drama between you and the vixen,” **Kurama said, grinning at his container’s blush.

_‘Shut it baka-kitsune,’_ he lightly snapped, and the blonde boy left it at that. He was about to head to the bathroom to wash up when the door to his room opened, revealing a fully dressed Naruko standing there, a warm smile on her face.

“You ready to go yet, Onii-chan?” she asked, while also noticing the new change in clothes, which made Naruto all the more attractive to her eyes. She mentally chided herself, _‘No! Bad Naruko-chan! You can’t think of him that way! He’s your brother for Kami’s sake!’ _But no matter how much she kept telling herself to stop, Naruko’s feelings towards her brother just kept growing stronger, and Naruto wasn’t even _trying_ to cause such a reaction from her!

Naruto shook his head negatively. “Not yet. Just let me brush my teeth and wash up, you go on and take your breakfast first, I’ll catch up.” He said.

“Okay!” she called out as she went to take her breakfast, “But be quick! We don’t want to be late during team placements!”

“Hai!” Naruto called back, “Make sure to check your milk to see if it’s spoilt! I’ve checked it last night and I saw it’s expired!”

And, lo and behold, when Naruko checked one of her cartons of milk, she found that it was _way_ past the expiration date! She quickly threw them in the bin and opened up a new carton, this one she bought a few days ago, and poured herself a glass. If Naruto hadn’t warned her, she would’ve most likely chugged down that carton of expired milk without a second thought. She shivered as she thought of going to the bathroom all day due to an upset tummy… it wouldn’t be pretty, that much she knew.

In the bathroom, Naruto grimaced when he remembered _his _own encounter with the expired milk. That was one of his most embarrassing and _painful_ memories ever. Period.

**“Good thing you had me sealed inside you,”** Kurama remarked, amusement clear in his tone.** “Or you would’ve been admitted to a ward and have your insides cleaned because of it.” **

And much to Naruto’s chagrin, the fox wouldn’t let him hear the end of it.

After enjoying a breakfast of rice balls and milk courtesy of Naruko, the Uzumaki siblings were now standing in front of a blacksmith store named “Tetsu no Konoha”, or “Iron of the Leaf”. It was located near the center of the village, just a few streets away from Ramen Ichiraku.

Naruko looked at her brother in bewilderment, “Why are we here, Naruto-nii? Isn’t the Academy in the other direction?” she asked.

She had been a little curious when Naruto wanted to take a detour to the Academy, but she hadn’t expected him to visit a blacksmith of all places. Sure, she visited a few herself — mostly to replace her kunais and shurikens — though she figured that Naruto needed to gather a few supplies of his own. 

Naruto nodded with a small smile. “Yes, but Hokage-Jiji promised me to make these kunai that I requested for me, and I’m here to collect them!” he explained cheerfully, making the girl nod in understanding. He then ushered her inside. “Come on, let’s go in!”

Inside, sitting behind the counter was a fairly heavyset man in his late forties with greying dark hair and brown eyes, and those same eyes lit up when he saw the Uzumaki siblings enter as he stood up to greet them. “Ah, welcome to my humble abode! What can I do for you today?”

Naruto stepped up to the counter and placed down a note. “I was told that Hokage-sama had ordered some special kunai from you?” Seeing the man nod in confirmation, Naruto continued, “I’m here to collect them. Here’s the pass.”

“Well you’ve come at the right time!” the man said as he turned around after scanning the note to confirm its authenticity to rummage through the countless racks of weapons of all shapes and sizes, “To be frank, I’m actually quite confused at first when Hokage-sama asked me to make them, since nobody had used them since the Yondaime Hokage.”

Off to the side, Naruko’s eyes widened as she heard those words. Her brother was using something that hadn’t been used by anyone since the Yondaime himself? Just when Naruko thought she had her brother figured out, he would then go and surprise her again with something even more outrageous and cool.

A few minutes later, a few dozen scrolls were placed on the counter as the man finally fished out the last scroll from the back, “And that’s the last one. I’ve applied the seal on the handle as Hokage-sama requested and sealed them into these scrolls. The payment’s already been made, so no worries there.” The man said cheerfully. Naruto shook the man’s hand as he sealed all the scrolls away into his storage seal, “Tell Hokage-sama it’s a pleasure doing business with him!”

Naruto nodded and waved at the man as he followed Naruko on the way out, and both of them started to make their way towards the Academy.

Naruko turned to him, expression curious. “So, what’s in the scrolls?” she asked. The number of scrolls were a lot, and even with her limited knowledge of fūinjutsu she could tell that a large number of objects were sealed in them. What were they, she had no clue. That was why she was asking right now.

Naruto chuckled. “They’re special kunais that I am planning to use in the future.” He said.

Of course, he could use them now if he wanted to, but decided against it as it could draw too much attention to himself and Naruko. He would never forgive himself if his father’s enemies came after him, or worse, went after Naruko herself.

“Really?! Can I see them?” the excitable girl asked, eager to know what was so special about the kunais that made her brother buy them in large numbers.

Naruto chuckled at her eagerness. “I’ll show it to you tonight when we go home, not right now though.”

Naruko pouted, but nodded nonetheless. “Hai, Onii-chan… let’s just get to the Academy then!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Naruto asked with a grin, “Let’s get going! Last one there is a rotten shinobi!”

With that, he bolted towards the Academy by jumping onto the rooftops, with Naruko soon joining him, both laughing all the way.

The Konoha Academy’s graduating class was currently waiting for their senseis to arrive, and the eager young shinobi were chatting adamantly among themselves, and in one case, sleeping. This year’s batch of Genin saw the highest number of heirs and heiresses from the most prestigious clans in Konoha graduating in the same year, and suffice to say many saw them as the greatest generation of shinobi Konoha has ever produced.

Most notable were Nara Shikamaru of the Nara Clan, who was currently dozing off at the end of the class. Akimichi Chōji of the Akimichi Clan, who was munching on a bag of chips. Yamanaka Ino of the Yamanaka Clan, who was currently having a glaring contest with her rival and friend Haruno Sakura over who gets to sit with the last of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Sasuke, who was brooding beside the window while tuning out the argument that was beside him and thinking about how he would kill _that _man. There was also Aburame Shino of the insect-using Aburame Clan, who remained emotionless throughout the waiting session. Inuzuka Kiba of the Inuzuka Clan, who was petting his ninken Akamaru who was in his jacket. And, last but not least, there was Hyūga Hinata of the Hyūga Clan, who was busy scanning the room with her pale lavender eyes for her best friend.

Since joining the Academy, Hinata had always been very shy around others due to her status as clan heiress and her father’s strict attitude towards her since her mother’s death. She wallowed in her self-pity and sorrow because of that — before Uzumaki Naruko came into her life, the one who gave her friendship and kindness and strength to do what she believes in, not what others expected of her.

In a short time, Naruko had broken Hinata out of her shell and instilled the confidence she so desperately needed into the lavender-eyed girl, and the Hyūga Heiress became a force to be reckoned with during the Academy, sweeping aside all opposition except for Naruko who she was nipping at the heels. She had also earned her father’s respect after the man saw her progress in the Academy, much to her joy and happiness. She couldn’t repay Naruko for what she did that turned her life for the better.

_‘Naruko-chan, where are you?’_ Hinata thought worriedly, ‘_You’re not normally this late… what’s keeping you?’ _

Of course, she had heard the rumors that Mizuki had sabotaged the test and purposely failed Naruko out of spite, and in a rare moment of rage Hinata wanted to strike a _Jūken_ palm to the man’s heart. After resolving the situation with the Hokage, Hinata was sure that Naruko had passed the test… she had faith she did.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the door suddenly opened, and her eyes widened in joy at the familiar shade of blonde hair she grew to adore. All chatter suddenly stopped as everyone in the room turned to look at the newcomer, most showing surprise while some showed indifference and some showed approval, at the sudden appearance of their ‘Kunoichi of the Year’ and object of most boy’s affections, Uzumaki Naruko.

Hinata was the first out of her seat as she quickly glomped her best friend. “Naruko-chan!” she squealed, “I knew the rumours weren’t true! You passed after all!”

Naruko just chuckled at her best friend as she pointed at her hitai-ate around her neck, tied like a necklace much like Hinata’s. “Yep. I passed Hina-chan!” she declared with a huge smile.

Seeing her other friends starting to move towards them, Hinata was about to say something when Naruko suddenly turned and shouted at the door, “Hah! Told you I would win!”

The entire class went silent as they stared at Naruko like she had grown a second head.

Hinata was the first to speak. “Ano, Naruko-chan? Who are you talking to?” she asked.

The blonde couldn’t have just randomly talked to a door, can she? She may be hyperactive at times, but she hasn’t shown signs of insanity yet. Before anyone could comment further, as Kiba was halfway opening his mouth when a new voice entered the room.

“Not unless you call tricking me into believing you were hurt and got a ten-second head start _fair_, then yes, you win.” The voice, a male one said, amused.

Naruko giggled — much to the shock and delight of the boys, who had never heard the cute blonde giggle before since starting the Academy — as she smiled. “Don’t be such a sore loser, and you’re paying me for ramen tonight!” she declared triumphantly just as a new figure stepped into the room…

To reveal a handsome blonde boy about their age with spiky hair and was taller than most of them with a charming smile on his face, which caused some of the girls to actually have stars in their eyes. The rest of the class was stunned out of their wits as they thought they saw a younger Yondaime standing before them.

The blonde boy chuckled as he shook his head. “Hai, hai… whatever you say.” he said in admission.

Naruko smiled triumphantly at that while the class remained dead silent, first by the fact that Naruko had actually _giggled_ and second by the appearance of the blonde boy who looked as if he could defeat any one of them with ease. Even Shikamaru was wide awake and Chōji had stopped munching his chips. If the situation wasn’t so tense, Naruto would’ve started laughing at the expressions on everyone’s faces.

Hinata was the first to snap out of the shock by the sudden appearance of the blonde male. “Naruko-chan, who is this?” she asked, and judging by the forehead protector, he was also a shinobi.

Naruko smiled even brighter at her if that was even possible. “Hinata-chan, allow me to introduce to you my new big brother, Uzumaki Naruto-Onii-chan!”

The class was stunned at her declaration as they turned to look at the blonde boy in shock who just waved at them. “Naruto-Onii-chan, meet my best friend Hyūga Hinata and the rest of my class!” she said to him.

Naruto bowed slightly. “It’s an honour to meet you all.” He politely said with a grin, “I hope we can get along.”

He had brushed up his manners while alone in his mindscape with Kurama on the way here, and thinking back to all the times he had unknowingly or knowingly disrespected or insulted someone or another with his poor manners and loudmouth attitude, he supposed that learning to be polite and soft-spoken was a long time coming for him. Nevertheless, he smiled warmly when he saw all of his friends again alive and well.

Shikamaru’s intelligent mind was going a mile a minute as he tried to process the information in front of him. _‘What the hell? He’s her older brother, and an Uzumaki to boot? That explains the similarities but why does he look like as if he can beat all of us and make it look easy? This is so troublesome…’_ he thought as he decided to just go back to sleep, deeming it too troublesome for him to think anymore.

The rest of the Rookie Nine had varied reactions.

Shino was just… as emotionless as ever. Kiba was eyeing the blonde boy who he saw as a threat to his position as the alpha male. Ino and Sakura were already on Naruko as they bombarded the poor girl with question after question. Chōji just continued to eat his chips, while hoping that Naruto was a good friend to talk to. Hinata was congratulating her best friend for finally having a family member she always dreamed of.

And Sasuke was eyeing the blonde boy in question, trying to measure his power and compare it with his own. The unique aura that the blonde gave off resonated with power and authority and Sasuke was contemplating whether he would take that sort of power for himself.

Hinata was smiled at Naruto as she shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you Naruto-san!” she chirped happily, and Naruto idly wondered what had caused such a drastic, but positive change in the Hyūga Heiress. “I hope you’re treating Naruko-chan right… or we’re going to have a slight… _problem._” she added with a sickly sweet smile, which promised pain if the wrong answer was given.

Naruto nodded with a grin, the threat heard loud and clear. “Of course, I had to make up for all the times I hadn’t been there for her when she really needed it.” He said with a sad voice, and turned to look at his sister, who also wore an understanding smile. “I’ll never leave her side again… that’s a promise of a lifetime.”

He earned a grateful glomp from said girl after he said that. “Thank you onii-chan!”

Naruto just laughed as the blonde girl just clung to him like there’s no tomorrow, and he was getting used to the extra weight of his sister whenever she tried to jump on him out of nowhere.

It was then Kiba approached Naruko with a slight flush on his face, which didn’t go unnoticed by Naruto, who narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“That’s great Naruko-chan!” the Inuzuka Heir said, “Why don’t we go celebrate at Ichiraku’s after team placements? My treat!”

Naruto felt an involuntary urge to punch the dog user in the face for _deliberately_ asking _his_ sister out on a date _right in front of her brother!_ His new big brother senses were yelling at him to do something, while his feelings were also yelling the same, though for different reasons entirely.

Naruto released the breath he never thought he held when he saw his cute sister shook her head no. “Sorry Kiba-kun, but I’ve got the rest of the day planned with Onii-chan!” she explained, and Kiba deflated before he glared at Naruto out of the corner of his eyes. “He’s still new to the village, and I still got tons of things I wanna show him!”

“Speaking of which, how did you become a shinobi? You hadn’t taken the test with us!” Ino practically shouted, making her friends wince.

Naruto reached up and tightened his hitai-ate, fixing his bangs as he did. “True. But Hokage-sama gave me permission to join the shinobi corps if I took the standard Graduation Test, which I passed yesterday. Am I right, Iruka-sensei?” he asked, and as if on cue the scarred chūnin entered the room.

“Yes you are Naruto.” Iruka said and he turned to the rest of the class who gave him their undivided attention, a rare thing for them to do, “Alright everyone! As you may have known, Uzumaki Naruto will be joining us as a fellow shinobi of Konoha, so I expect every one of you, and yes I’m talking about you too, Kiba,” the brown haired teacher said sternly to the wild-haired boy who was grumbling, “To show him the proper respect you would give to your classmates and teammates and fellow shinobi. Do you understand?”

Receiving a chorus of “Hai’s” later, Iruka nodded.

“Alright, now please take your seats, I will be announcing the teams,” he declared, as he waited for them to take their seats, subtly noticing that the Uzumaki siblings were sitting together, very closely if he may add. Iruka mentally shook his head in amusement as he began calling out the teams.

After a few minutes, the first six teams were called out, and Naruto leaned forward intently as he idly wondered if the teams would be different given the odd number of graduates, courtesy of him. “Team 7 will consist of Uchiha Sasuke,” The raven-haired boy nodded indifferently as his fangirls squealed and cheered for him.

“Haruno Sakura,” A shout came from the pink-haired girl, as she kept shouting about how ‘true love always wins’ at Ino, who slumped her head in dismay while the other girls groaned. Naruto also noticed that Naruko was holding his hand worriedly as she gritted her teeth nervously as the next name was called.

“Uzumaki Naruko,” Now it was the guy’s turn to groan at not being on the same team as the cutest girl in the class, while Naruko’s eyes widened as she turned to look at her brother in slight panic, who just reassuring squeezed her hand and smiled kindly, signifying everything was alright.

Unknown to them, they failed to notice the Last Uchiha smirking, eyes filled with slight lust and want. Naruko was his to begin with — strong, smart, attractive and _not_ annoying — the perfect attributes he looked for in a wife, and he swore he was going to make her his if it’s the last thing he did.

But unknown to him also, all of his dark feelings were being read like an open book by a certain blonde boy as the temperature in the room dropped slightly and killer intent filled the room, but it was gone as fast as it appeared, causing the rest of the class to dismiss it as nothing.

Before Naruto could even plan about how he should get back at the Uchiha for mentally violating his sister, Iruka continued, “And due to the odd number of graduates this year, Team Seven will have an extra temporary member until further notice from Hokage-sama,” Iruka announced as he ignored the surprised gasps from his students as they wondered on who was going to be the fourth member, “the last member will be Uzumaki Naruto…”

Silence was the answer he was given with… and then all hell broke loose. Naruto couldn’t help but groan. Today was going to be circus act, he just knew it! As if fate was answering him by flipping him the bird, Inuzuka Kiba shouted loudly his obvious disapproval.

“WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END
> 
> Phew, now that’s done and out of the way. How do you like it so far? Good? Bad? Boring? I’m trying to make it as immersive and interesting as possible. Anything, just review the story.
> 
> REVIEWS ARE LOVE.
> 
> HEIROFROHAN signing off
> 
> PEACE!
> 
> Revised as of 14th August 2017.


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